Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Plastics: Sales

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to encourage retailers to allocate proceeds from the sale of single-use plastic bags to charitable causes.

Rebecca Pow: No new steps are being taken; the Government has always encouraged retailers to donate the proceeds of the charge. The total amount of money donated to good causes as a result of the single-use carrier bag charge (and reported to Defra) since the charge was introduced in 2015 to now is over £200 million.

Flood Control: Parish and Town Councils

Helen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when details of community engagement with Parish Councils and local Flood Action Groups will be published on the Environment Agency website.

Rebecca Pow: The Environment Agency’s Severn Valley Water Management Scheme (SVWMS) project team will be presenting at the next Shropshire Association of Local Councils meeting. They are also due to engage with the Shropshire Flood Action Group Forum – a forum which consists of members from across a number of local flood action groups - that has been set up with the support of the National Flood Forum. The Environment Agency’s project team will update Parish Councils and flood action groups on the long-term strategy development for the Upper Severn catchment and how support can be provided to build community resilience over the coming months. The Environment Agency already hosts a dedicated SVWMS Citizen Space page, which is regularly updated with all the latest information regarding the scheme’s progress and includes information such as community engagement dates, and can be accessed here: Severn Valley Water Management Scheme - Environment Agency - Citizen Space (environment-agency.gov.uk) As the above discussions progress, the Environment Agency will undertake a more comprehensive programme of engagement with local communities across the Upper Severn catchment. Details of this next stage of engagement will be released in due course and will appear on the Citizen Space page.

River Severn: Flood Control

Helen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the timetable is for the publication of the Severn Valley Water Management Scheme.

Rebecca Pow: The Severn Valley Water Management Scheme is being developed by the Environment Agency and the River Severn Partnership. Engaging with partners on both sides of the English/Welsh border, an initial plan of potential interventions has been created that would make a significant difference to community resilience along the upper Severn catchment. This plan outlines possible approaches to effective water management across the Upper Severn catchment using a hybrid of formal engineered solutions, natural flood management, and land use change. The basis of funding and delivery is complex, and partners have a key role to play to co-create and deliver solutions on the ground, to access funding sources that will enable delivery, and to help the Environment Agency to engage with communities and businesses across the catchment. This critical engagement work will begin later this year which will help develop the plan further. To deliver an effective intervention plan, the input and support of authorities within Wales will greatly assist, and the Environment Agency is currently undertaking discussions, facilitated by Defra, with Welsh Government and Natural Resources Wales.

Food: Exports

Mr Alistair Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for Food, Environment and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the quantity of food that has spoiled while awaiting export checks at UK borders that were introduced as a result of the UK's departure from the EU since those checks were introduced.

Mark Spencer: There are no export checks implemented at the UK border for food as a result of EU exit, and so no assessment has been made. However, products are now subject to checks at the EU border which are the responsibility of the EU authorities. We do not have an assessment of the number of products detained, but Defra has functions in place to support UK exporters if their consignments are detained at the EU border in order to facilitate this trade and minimise disruption. The APHA Centre for International Trade has a dedicated Exports Team who are available to support GB stakeholders and provide advice and support where it is required. We have systems in place so that any detained consignments are dealt with as a priority. In respect of any complex exports queries or detainments, we will liaise with Veterinary and Defra Policy colleagues to ensure that the appropriate advice and support is given.

Department for Education

Koru Kids: Disclosure of Information

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has sought to (a) refuse freedom of information requests and (b) prevent other forms of public disclosure of any matters relating to the involvement of Koru Kids in policy development.

Claire Coutinho: I can re-assure the hon. Member for Dulwich and West Norwood that all Freedom of Information requests are handled with due process, in line with the statutory provisions of the Freedom of Information Act 2000. I refer the hon. Member to the answer of 11 May 2023 to questions 181438 and 182354.

Childminding: Finance

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department had discussions with (a) Koru Kids and (b) the Prime Minister on start-up grants for childminders in the six months before the Spring Budget 2023.

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department had discussions with (a) childminding agencies other than Koru Kids and (b) the representatives of childminding agencies on start-up grants for childminders in the six months before the Spring Budget 2023.

Claire Coutinho: Childminders are a vital way to deliver affordable and flexible care and more are needed. That is why the government is introducing start-up grants of £600 for childminders who register with Ofsted, and £1,200 for those who register through a childminder agency (CMA).Department ministers and officials meet a wide range of people and organisations representing the early years sector to discuss matters relevant to early education and childcare.In the six months before the Spring Budget 2023, officials from the department discussed childminder grants with representatives from CMAs on three occasions: On 30 November 2022, department officials updated a broad group of early years stakeholders about their ongoing policy development at an early years strategic forum. Tiney.co, a CMA, was in attendance as part of the group of early years stakeholders. Childminder start-up grants were discussed as part of a discussion about wider policy development regarding childminders.On 6 December 2022, department officials updated CMA representatives on the department’s ongoing policy development at a quarterly CMA forum. The CMA forum is a quarterly, working-level meeting organised by Ofsted. The CMAs themselves, including Koru Kids, and representatives from Ofsted and the department attend. It is an opportunity to share information and updates, discuss operational issues and inform policy development.On 7 March 2023, a department official had a conversation with Tiney.co about a wide range of matters. Following the Spring Budget, department officials updated representatives from all five CMAs in England who have providers on their books, as well as a wide range of stakeholders, on the content of the announcement.All decisions are made on the basis of collective responsibility and the government would not normally comment on internal policy discussions. However, this is to note on the record that the current Prime Minister has not been personally involved in the policy development on this matter.

Teachers: Standards

Naz Shah: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that teaching provided by distance and online remote learning education providers meet the required teaching standards.

Nick Gibb: On 20 March 2023, the Department launched the Online Education Accreditation Scheme (OEAS). This scheme provides for the voluntary accreditation of full-time, online-only education providers. The OEAS is non-statutory, but the Department’s aim is that commissioners of full-time online education for school-age pupils in England should use accredited providers for new places wherever possible.As a condition of accreditation under the OEAS, applicants must consistently meet the Online Education Standards. These standards are modelled on the Independent School Standards, which ensure the safety and suitability of education provided in registered independent schools.

Overseas Students

Alex Davies-Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent fiscal assessment she has made of the value to GDP that international students bring to the UK economy per year.

Robert Halfon: International students make a significant economic and cultural contribution to the UK’s higher education (HE) sector. We have met our International Education Strategy ambition to attract at least 600,000 international students for the second consecutive year.International students have a major economic impact in the UK through their spending on tuition fees and living expenditure. Statistics published by the department show that in 2020, total revenue from education related exports and transnational education activity was £25.6 billion, with the total revenue from HE being £19.5 billion. This data can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/uk-revenue-from-education-related-exports-and-transnational-education-activity/2020.London Economics have calculated the net economic impact of international students to the UK economy, taking into account not just the value of spending by international students, but also indirect effects, and the spending of friends and families visiting international students. It also takes into account the costs to my right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer associated with teaching and supporting international students and the costs of providing public services, such as healthcare, to international students and their dependants. They estimate that for the 2018/19 cohort, the net economic impact of international students to the UK was an estimated £25.9 billion, representing around £95,000 per ‘typical’ international student. This figure does not include other sources of value that international students bring to the UK, such as tax revenues, improved longer-term trade and investment links and wider cultural and social benefits. The report can be found at: https://www.hepi.ac.uk/2021/09/09/the-costs-and-benefits-of-international-higher-education-students-to-the-uk-economy/#:~:text=The%20costs%20and%20benefits%20of%20international%20higher%20education,public%20services%2C%20which%20are%20put%20at%20%C2%A32.9%20billion.

Department of Health and Social Care

England Infected Blood Support Scheme

Taiwo Owatemi: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the interim report of the Infected Blood Inquiry published on 5 April 2023, what the expected timeframe is for enabling the children and parents of people impacted by infected blood to register with the English Infected Blood Support Scheme.

Maria Caulfield: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Mental Health Services: Finance

Dr Rosena Allin-Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 17 April 2023 to Question 176815 on Mental Health Services, how many full-time equivalent staff in his Department are working on the rapid review of mental health inpatient services.

Maria Caulfield: Work on the rapid review of mental health inpatient services has been led by a core policy and analytical team of 6.5 staff with input from other colleagues within the Department, providing secretariat, policy and analytical support for the review alongside the Chair. The team has received contributions from across the mental health sector.

Hormone Replacement Therapy: Prescriptions

Carolyn Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many people have bought an HRT pre-payment certificate since its introduction.

Carolyn Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many people who have bought an HRT pre-payment certificate are accessing HRT for the first time.

Maria Caulfield: From 1 to 30 April 2023 there were 130,623 successful applications for hormone replacement therapy (HRT) prescription pre-payment certificates. Information on the number of people who have bought prescription pre-payment certificates for HRT and who are accessing HRT for the first time is not held.

Mental Health Services: Children and Young People

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the availability of Tier 4 beds in (a) England, (b) York and (c) North Yorkshire; and whether he plans to take steps to increase the number of beds available.

Maria Caulfield: NHS England continually assess the adequacy of children and young people’s Tier 4 mental health services, including in the Humber and North Yorkshire Integrated Care Board area. The National Health Service is working to reduce reliance on inpatient beds and to have fewer young people being detained under the Mental Health Act. To support this, the model of inpatient care is being reviewed and re-designed to support the move to a community-based provision of care, where children and young people are able to access appropriate support in a timely, effective, and patient-centred way, close to home and in the least restrictive environment.NHS England is committed to developing a national Tier 4 admission protocol for children and young people with multi-agency partners, which will seek to address the need for improvement and consistency in practice when identifying the clinical suitability of admission to hospital, the checks and balances required prior to making referral for a Mental Health Act assessment and promotion of the least restrictive practice principle across services. The national protocol is due to be completed by summer 2023.

Mental Health Services: Staff

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure adequate staffing levels for mental health services.

Maria Caulfield: To support delivery of the mental health commitments in the NHS Long Term Plan, our aim is for an additional 27,000 staff in the mental health workforce by 2023/24. We are working with NHS England and Health Education England to deliver this growth, focusing on action around workforce expansion, upskilling, new ways of working and retention.

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and Autism: Children and Young People

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, (a) what recent steps his Department has taken to support children and young people on the waiting list and (b) what steps he is taking to reduce waiting times for children and young people (i) to see a specialist and (ii) for treatment in relation to a suspected diagnosis of (A) autism and (B) ADHD.

Maria Caulfield: We expect integrated care boards to have due regard to relevant National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines on autism and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) when commissioning services for children and young people.On 5 April 2023, NHS England published a national framework and operational guidance for autism assessment services. This guidance will help the National Health Service and local authorities improve their autism assessment services and improve the experience for children and young people referred to an autism assessment service. Additionally, this year, £4.2 million is available to improve services for autistic children and young people, including autism assessment services.NHS England publish data on how many people are waiting for an autism diagnosis and for how long, which provides useful information nationally and locally to support local areas to improve their performance and to reduce diagnosis waiting times.In a recent Westminster Hall debate on 1 February 2023, I committed to look at how we can improve data on ADHD assessment waiting times, to help improve access to ADHD assessments in a timely way and in line with the NICE guideline.The Government will invest £2.3 billion more a year into NHS-funded mental health services by 2023/24 so that an additional 345,000 children and young people are able to access NHS-funded support.

Health Services: Women

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to his Department's Women's Health Strategy for England, published on 30 August 2022, when he plans to publish the implementation framework for the delivery plan; whether the framework will include timeframes for (a) intrauterine insemination and (b) IVF treatment for people in same-sex relationships; and if she will make a statement.

Maria Caulfield: We do not plan to publish an implementation framework for a delivery plan for the Women’s Health Strategy. I wrote to MPs on 24 January 2023 setting out our priorities for the first year of implementing the 10-year Women’s Health Strategy. In this, we committed to update Parliament annually on progress, with the first update due in September 2023. In addition, the strategy committed the Government to publish a report on progress in delivering our commitments and the outcomes achieved in three years.In regards to intrauterine insemination and IVF treatment for people in same-sex relationships, the Women’s Health Strategy contained a number of important changes and future ambitions to improve access to IVF for female same sex couples, which included removing the additional financial burden they face when accessing treatment. We expect this to take effect during 2023.

IVF: LGBT+ People

Dr Rupa Huq: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Women’s Health Strategy for England, published on 30 August 2022, whether his Department has taken recent steps to help tackle the financial burdens faced by the LGBTQ+ community when accessing IVF treatment.

Maria Caulfield: Funding decisions for health services in England, including IVF, are made by integrated care boards (ICBs) and are based on the clinical needs of their local population.The Women’s Health Strategy contained a number of important changes and future ambitions to improve the variations in access to National Health Service-funded fertility services, which included improving access to IVF for female same-sex couples by removing the additional financial burden they face when accessing treatment. We expect this to take effect during 2023.

Mental Health Services: North Yorkshire

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure that appropriate provision is in place to support mental health patients in North Yorkshire; and what steps he is taking to help ensure that the police are not used as a backstop for people experiencing mental health challenges.

Maria Caulfield: It is the responsibility of NHS Humber and North Yorkshire Integrated Care Board to make available appropriate provision to meet the health and care needs of its local population. The NHS Long Term Plan commits an additional £2.3 billion a year for the expansion and transformation of mental health services in England by March 2024 so that an additional two million people, including people in North Yorkshire, can get the National Health Service-funded mental health support that they need. The Department and NHS England are committed to developing a national partnership agreement with the Home Office and the National Police Chiefs’ Council and are engaging with police and health partners and experts by experience. The new agreement will be underpinned by the principle that mental health incidents should receive a health response first, while recognising some situations may still require a police presence. To better support people experiencing a mental health crisis and reduce pressure on the police and on urgent and emergency care services, we are improving average ambulance response times, delivering the commitment to make urgent mental health support universally available via NHS 111, rolling out specialised mental health ambulances, supported by £7 million of capital investment and investing £143 million in over 160 capital projects, including new and improved health-based places of safety and safe spaces to help ensure people can receive appropriate support and care in community settings.

Air Pollution: Greater London

Geraint Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 24 April 2023 to Question 181817 on Air Pollution: Death, if he provide a worked calculation and weblinks to references of how the number of deaths in Greater London attributable to fine particulate matter (PM2.5) was calculated from the fraction of mortality in (a) 2018, (b) 2019, (c) 2020 and (d) 2021.

Maria Caulfield: We do not have the information in the format requested. UK Health Security Agency has not calculated the number of deaths attributable to fine particulate matter (PM2.5) for the years requested. The following table shows the fraction of mortality attributable to particulate air pollution, measured as PM2.5, for Greater London in 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2021. The provided values represent the percentage of annual deaths from all causes in those aged 30 years old and older. Estimates are currently available until 2021.Region2018201920202021Greater London9.0 %8.8 %7.1 %6.5 % An estimate of deaths attributable to long-term exposure to air pollution in a local area can be made by multiplying the above attributable fraction by the total number of deaths annually in the local area. This represents the effect of air pollution across the whole population, as air pollution is considered to act as a contributory factor to many more individual deaths.

Parkinson's Disease: Health Services

Peter Dowd: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will take steps to include projections of the numbers of mental health staff that will be recruited to support people with Parkinson’s in the NHS workforce plan.

Maria Caulfield: To support the workforce as a whole, we have commissioned NHS England to develop a Long Term Workforce Plan, which will include independently verified forecasts for the number of healthcare professionals required in future years. The Plan is for the whole of the National Health Service workforce, including mental health, however, it will not provide detailed workforce assessments for individual services or staff groups.The NHS mental health workforce has grown. Latest data shows that, as of December 2022, there has been an increase of over 8,900, 6.9%, full-time equivalent staff compared to December 2021. This includes only those people who work directly on mental health, across NHS trusts and integrated care boards in England.

NHS: Staff

Sir Robert Neill: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he has taken with Cabinet colleagues to ensure that the NHS Workforce Plan contains a detailed analysis of the long-term funding allocations required to develop a healthcare workforce capable of delivering recommended levels of care into the future.

Will Quince: The Government has and will continue to prioritise investment into the National Health Service. We worked closely with NHS leadership to agree £3.3 billion per year of new funding for the NHS in England at the autumn statement. This is on top of the historic funding settlement that the NHS received at the last spending review.The work of the Long Term Workforce Plan will be used to inform future Government work on how to best meet the needs of patients and the NHS workforce. Funding plans will be subject to business and financial planning and investment decisions once the work has been completed. Funding plans beyond the current Spending Review period will be subject to the outcome of future Spending Reviews.

Influenza: Medical Treatments

Esther McVey: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much the Government has spent on antiviral medication stockpiles against influenza in each year since 2005.

Will Quince: The following table shows the spend for England by financial year for the procurement of antivirals for use during an influenza pandemic. Years not presented are a nil return.YearTotal England antiviral historic spend incl. VAT at historic rates £m2006/07145.42008/09189.42009/10153.02010/113.82011/1230.42012/130.62013/1449.02015/161.42016/1755.92018/1946.02019/20104.82020/2150.42021/221.72022/238.6Total840.4

General Practitioners: Wandsworth

Dr Rosena Allin-Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many NHS GPs there were in the London Borough of Wandsworth in each year since 2010.

Neil O'Brien: The following table shows the number of full-time equivalent (FTE) doctors in general practice in the London Borough of Wandsworth from September 2015 to September 2022.DateDoctors in general practice, FTESeptember 2015185September 2016204September 2017205September 2018228September 2019239September 2020238September 2021243September 2022248Source: NHS DigitalData before September 2015 is not included because of a change in the data collection methodology. NotesFTE refers to the proportion of full-time contracted hours that the post holder is contracted to work. 1 would indicate they work a full set of hours (37.5), 0.5 that they worked half time. For GPs in Training Grade contracts, 1 FTE = 40 hours, and in this table these FTEs have been converted to the standard wMDS measure of 1 FTE = 37.5 hours for consistency.Figures shown do not include staff working in prisons, army bases, educational establishments, Specialist Care Centres including Drug Rehabilitation Centres, Walk-In Centres and other alternative settings outside of traditional general practice such as urgent treatment centres and minor injury units.Data from September 2015 onwards was collected using a new methodology and should therefore not be directly compared with data from before September 2015. Figures from September 2015 should be treated with caution as the data submission rates under the new methodology from practices were appreciably lower than for subsequent reporting periods. This means that the reported figures for the early years of the collection may be lower than the true picture. In September 2015, which was the first extract from the new Workforce Minimum Data Set, only three of four Health Education England regions submitted data.Data from September 2015 onwards includes estimates for practices that did not provide fully valid staff records.Practices in the London Borough of Wandsworth were identified using the National Statistics Postcode Lookup.

Ageing and Older People: Public Appointments

Mr Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of appointing a commissioner for older people and ageing.

Neil O'Brien: We have no current plans to make a specific assessment.

Home Office

Home Office: Written Questions

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when she plans to respond to Question 181359 tabled on 18 April 2023 on Refugees: Afghanistan.

Robert Jenrick: A response will be provided in due course.

Overseas Students: Finance

Alex Davies-Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment she has made of the impact of the financial requirement threshold for international student applications to higher education institutes.

Alex Davies-Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent steps she has taken to ensure that the financial requirement threshold for international students applying for a Student Route Visa does not discriminate against those from low-income countries or regions.

Alex Davies-Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment she has made of the impact of the financial requirement threshold on international students from (a) lower-income countries and (b) countries not on the Government’s list of countries exempting students from proving the financial requirement threshold.

Alex Davies-Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, on what basis is the financial requirement threshold for Student Route Visas reviewed; and if she will make a statement.

Robert Jenrick: To access the Student route, international students must demonstrate in their application they meet the requirements of the route, including their ability to financially support themselves throughout their stay in the UK, unless differentiation arrangements apply. The addition or removal of countries and competent authorities to the list of differentiated nationals is based on objective data. We keep the list of differentiated nationals under review, adding and removing countries and competent authorities from this list.An Impact Assessment was prepared to accompany the launch of the Student route. This can be found at the following link: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/916601/IA_-_students.pdf We keep our immigration policies under constant review to ensure they reflect our priorities and ensure we have a system that works in the UK’s best interests.

Immigration Officers: Recruitment

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many additional immigration officers have been appointed in each year between January 2018 and March 2023.

Robert Jenrick: For security reasons, we would not disclose this level of detail about our workforce. The overall number of officers employed by both Immigration Enforcement and Border Force is at page 107 of the Home Office Annual Report and Accounts: HO annual report and accounts 2020-21 (publishing.service.gov.uk).

Immigration Officers: Training

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many additional immigration officers are undergoing training in order to expand the current staffing level.

Robert Jenrick: For security reasons, we would not disclose this level of detail about our workforce. The overall number of officers employed by both Immigration Enforcement and Border Force is at page 107 of the Home Office Annual Report and Accounts: HO annual report and accounts 2020-21 (publishing.service.gov.uk).

Police: Food

Mr Alistair Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Office, what proportion of her Department's budget was spent on food for the police force in each of the last five years; and what proportion of food supplied to the police force was produced by UK farmers in each of those years.

Chris Philp: The Home Office does not hold information relating to the proportion of budgets spent on food for police forces and what proportion of the food supplied was produced by UK farmers.Decisions on how to use funding and resources are an operational matter for Chief Constables. Police and Crime Commissioners are best placed to make resourcing decisions within their communities based on their local knowledge and experience,

Home Office: Email

Angela Crawley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many emails were received by her Department in each year from 2017 from people outside the UK relating to (a) border, (b) immigration and (c) citizenship services.

Robert Jenrick: The Home Office does not record the country of origin of emails nor do we categorise emails according to ‘border’, ‘immigration’ or ‘citizenship services’.

Refugees: Families

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to Answer of 26 April 2023 to Question 181331 on Refugees: Families, if she will make it her policy to include evidence of risk of (a) violence against women and girls in Iran and (b) mass arrests at peaceful protests as a compelling reason to prioritise a family reunion application.

Robert Jenrick: It is not appropriate to set out through policy a prescriptive list of circumstances which may lead to an application being prioritised. Instead, where the out-of-country operational team receives a request for prioritisation from an applicant or their representative, a manager will undertake a holistic consideration of the applicant’s individual circumstances to determine whether it should be prioritised.Those who need international protection should claim asylum in the first safe country they reach. That is the fastest route to safety.

Members: Correspondence

Gerald Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when she plans to reply to the correspondence of 20 March 2023 from the hon. Member for Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney, reference MIN/0549165/23.

Tom Tugendhat: The Home Office will respond in due course.

Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities

Question

Wera Hobhouse: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, If he will make an assessment with Cabinet colleagues of the potential merits of introducing a system of proportional representation for Parliamentary elections.

Dehenna Davison: The Government strongly believes that it would be a profound mistake to abandon the British system of voting and move to a system more favoured on the European continent of so-called ‘proportional representation’. The Government was elected on a manifesto which included a commitment to continue to support the use of the First Past the Post voting system which “allows voters to kick out politicians who don’t deliver, both locally and nationally”.The Government believes the First Past the Post system is a robust and secure way of electing MPs and provides for direct local accountability. It ensures a clear link between elected representatives and their electors in a manner that other voting systems do notThere was a significant vote in favour of retaining First Past the Post for Parliamentary elections at 2011 Referendum while the proposal to introduce an Alternative Vote was rejected by a significant majority (67.9%) of voters. This Government strongly believes in respecting the results of referendums.Experience of countries across the world with so-called proportional representation (PR) voting systems show that those with that voting system risk fragmented political parties, not grounded in local accountability. PR systems can create Governments which are less stable and more fragile, where inter-party ‘back room’ deals determine policy, and where minority and arguably fringe political parties can hold the balance of power. PR can also mean that political parties’ central establishments are strengthened versus local political parties.First Past the Post is part of the voting system of the world’s oldest, biggest and greatest democracies including in the United Kingdom, India, and the United States.

Affordable Housing: Construction

Helen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how many homes have been built that are (a) affordable (b) for social rent since 1 January 2022.

Rachel Maclean: The Government is committed to increasing the supply of new homes, including affordable housing, so we can meet our target of 300,000 new homes a year.As has been the case under successive administrations, it is for local authorities to set out their plans to address housing need in their areas, including how much of that should be for affordable housing. Our £11.5 billion Affordable Homes Programme will deliver tens of thousands of affordable homes.Data on new affordable housing, including social rent and affordable rent, is collected and published by financial year, and collected by local authority rather than parliamentary constituency. Figures and detail are available here.

Housing: Disability

Mr Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what recent steps his Department has taken to increase the number of accessible and adaptable homes.

Mr Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how many and what proportion of homes met the accessible and adaptable design standard on 1 May 2023; and how many and what proportion of homes are expected to meet the accessible and adaptable design standard by 2030.

Lee Rowley: The data requested is not held centrally. Planning rules already mean that councils must consider the needs of older and disabled people when planning new homes. The National Model Design Code provides tools and guidance to local councils for producing design codes; it details how the ten characteristics in the National Design Guide can be translated into design standards in local design codes.

Housing: Standards

Stephen Kinnock: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how many times the Nation House Building Council has signed off on a property that has subsequently been found not fit for habitation.

Lee Rowley: The information requested is not collected by the Government.The new Building Safety Regulator has a duty to keep the safety and standard of buildings under review and to facilitate improvement in the competence of industry and building inspectors. As such they are considering the information they require from building control bodies. Further details will be set out in due course.

Local Government: Elections

Helen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how many people were turned away from the polls at the local elections on 4 May 2023 because they presented unacceptable forms of ID.

Helen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how many people were not permitted to vote due to suspected (a) personation and (b) forgery at the local elections on 4 May 2023.

Helen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how many people had their ID checked in private at the local elections on 4 May 2023.

Helen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how many people returned to vote at the recent local elections with the correct form of ID after initially being turned away.

Helen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how many people failed to answer the prescribed questions when applying to vote as an elector.

Helen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how many people failed to answer the prescribed questions when applying to vote as a proxy.

Dehenna Davison: As required by paragraph 34 of part 7 of the Voter Identification Regulations 2022, polling station staff were required to collect data regarding the use of identification. This information will be returned to Government and the Electoral Commission in due course, as set out in the UQ response on the floor of the House on 27 April 2023 (Official Report, HC, Volume 731, Column 919).The Government will be publishing reports as required by section 59A of the Representation of the People Act 1983.The Electoral Commission will also report on the elections in the usual way.

Social Rented Housing

Helen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what the shortfall of social housing stock is (a) nationally (b) by local authority.

Feryal Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what the shortfall of social housing stock is in (a) Enfield North constituency and (b) the London Borough of Enfield.

Feryal Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, how many homes have been built that are (a) affordable (b) for social rent for each year since 2019 in Enfield North constituency.

Rachel Maclean: The Government is committed to increasing the supply of new homes, including affordable housing, so we can meet our target of 300,000 new homes a year.As has been the case under successive administrations, it is for Local Authorities to set out their plans to address housing need in their areas, including how much of that should be for affordable housing. Our £11.5bn Affordable Homes Programme will deliver tens of thousands of affordable homes.Data on new affordable housing, including social rent and affordable rent, is collected and published by financial year, and collected by local authority rather than parliamentary constituency. Figures and detail are available here.

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office

Uzbekistan: Human Rights

Jessica Morden: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has had discussions with his (a) Uzbekistani counterpart and (b) HM Ambassador to Uzbekistan on (i) human rights in Uzbekistan and (ii) the imprisonment of Duletmurat Tazhimuratov.

Leo Docherty: The FCDO carefully monitors the human rights situation in Uzbekistan. We regularly raise human rights issues, including the aftermath of the events in Karakalpakstan and the imprisonment of activists and journalists such as Mr Tazhimuradov, with the Uzbek authorities. Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon most recently raised human rights with a senior visiting Uzbek delegation on 19 April. We are clear that the right to peaceful protest and respect for media freedom should be protected.

Development Aid

Drew Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, when his Department will implement its Overseas Development Assistance (ODA) budget commitments to reinstate ODA funding for humanitarian response and gender equality to levels seen prior to the 2020 cut to UK international aid.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: The UK Government remains committed to delivering the priorities set out in the International Development Strategy (IDS); and the Strategy's spend targets where funding allows. In 2024-2025 we plan to spend £1 billion on urgent humanitarian needs. We continue to work towards the IDS target on restoring funding for vital work on Women and Girls and the new target set out in the FCDO's International Women and Girls Strategy 2023-2030 for at least 80 percent of the FCDO's bilateral aid programmes to have a focus on gender equality by 2030.

Humanitarian Aid: Women

Drew Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps his Department is taking help (a) resource and (b) encourage participation of women-led organisations at pledging conferences for international humanitarian emergencies in 2023.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: The UK remains committed to supporting women-led organisations in humanitarian crises in 2023. Last year, we co-hosted the Afghanistan Pledging Conference, providing a platform for Afghan women's rights activists to speak, and we provided $185 million to the UN's Country Based Pooled Funds globally, which direct humanitarian funding to local organisations, including women-led organisations. In 2023, we launched the £38 million Advancing Gender Equality through support to Women's Rights Organisations programme, which will provide grants to women's rights organisations and work to amplify their voices in key fora such as pledging conferences.

East Africa: International Assistance

Drew Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will take steps to host an international conference on humanitarian assistance for the East Africa drought.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: We are working with several international and UN partners to organise a humanitarian pledging conference for the Horn of Africa. The event is scheduled to take place in New York on 24 May. It will help us to mobilise urgent funding for immediate humanitarian needs and to identify long-term solutions to the region's recurrent crises including drought. The UK is a leading humanitarian donor to the region with more than £1 billion provided in relief aid since 2019. UK funded activities are saving lives and making a difference.

Sudan: Armed Conflict

Abena Oppong-Asare: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to monitor the potential impact of the conflict in Sudan on its neighbouring countries.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: The FCDO is monitoring the situation in Sudan closely, including the humanitarian and security impacts of the conflict on Sudan's neighbouring countries. On 4 May, the UK Government announced an initial £5 million of life-saving aid to help meet the urgent needs of tens of thousands of refugees and returnees in South Sudan and Chad who have fled the violence in Sudan. The UK is pursuing all diplomatic avenues, including Ministerial engagement with regional counterparts, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) and African Union (AU), to end the violence and de-escalate tensions in Sudan.

Alaa Abdel Fattah

Marsha De Cordova: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he is taking to secure the release of Alaa Abdel Fattah.

Marsha De Cordova: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what progress has his Department made on securing consular access for Alaa Abdel Fattah.

Marsha De Cordova: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, when he last discussed the case of Alaa Abdel Fattah with his Egyptian counterpart.

David Rutley: Since Mr El-Fattah's sentencing in December 2021, there have been numerous representations by the UK Government including seeking consular access and his release, in both London and Cairo. The Prime Minister raised Mr El-Fattah's case during his meeting with President Sisi during COP 27 and the Foreign Secretary raised the case on several occasions with Egyptian Foreign Minister Shoukry, most recently on 2 March. The Minister of State for the Middle East, Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon, has raised the case several times with the Egyptian Ambassador, most recently on 23 February and also raised it with Foreign Minister Shoukry during his visit to Cairo on 4 April.Ministers and officials are in regular contact with the Egyptian authorities in London and through our Embassy in Cairo. We continue to seek consular access and call for his release at the highest levels of the Egyptian Government. We are providing consular support to his family. The Foreign Secretary and Lord Ahmad jointly met Mr El-Fattah's family on 6 February, and most recently, Lord Ahmad met Mr El-Fattah's mother on 5 April, during his visit to Cairo.

British Overseas Territories: Cybersecurity and Espionage

Stephen Doughty: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he is taking to help the Overseas Territories respond to hybrid threats from hostile state actors in (a) cyber, (b) information, (c) media and (d) political domains.

David Rutley: The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Ukraine: Reconstruction

Drew Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to help (a) women's rights and (b) women-led organisations participate in the Ukraine Recovery Conference in June 2023.

Leo Docherty: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 25 April 2023 to Question 181040 [https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2023-04-17/181040].

Ministry of Defence

Military Bases: Concrete

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many military barracks on the Defence Estate have been identified as containing reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete.

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many (a) Service Family Accommodation and (b) Single Living Accommodation units are housed in structures identified as containing reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete.

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many buildings operated by Defence Children's Services on the Defence Estate have been identified as containing reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete.

James Cartlidge: I refer the right hon. Member to the answer I gave on 26 April 2023 to Question 181192 to the hon. Member for Islington South and Finsbury (Emily Thornberry).Military Bases: Concrete (docx, 22.8KB)

Ukraine: Military Aid

Stephanie Peacock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether the reduction in the number of Army personnel has had an effect on the provision of new military capabilities to Ukraine since February 2023.

James Heappey: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on Tuesday 9 May to Question 183527.Armed Forces (docx, 18.1KB)

Global Combat Air Programme: Costs

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what estimate his Department has made of the (a) procurement cost and (b) whole life cost for the Global Combat Air Programme.

James Cartlidge: The whole-life costs of the Global Combat Air Programme will be contingent upon the role that international partners take and key programme choices informed by the Concept and Assessment phase, which is currently underway and is due to complete in 2025.

Global Combat Air Programme: Finance

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much funding has been allocated for the Global Combat Air Programme by (a) the UK, (b) Italy and (c) Japan.

James Cartlidge: I refer the right hon. Member to the answer I gave him on 30 March 2023, to Question 172328.Global Combat Air Programme: Finance (docx, 18.4KB)

Ministry of Justice

Community Orders

Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of court applications to extend supervision due to community sentence unpaid work going unfulfilled were made by his Department since 2010; and if he will publish the dates for which data can be provided at a proportionate cost starting in the current year.

Damian Hinds: HMPPS and HMCTS do not hold data on cost of court applications to extend supervision of Unpaid Work requirements.

Prisons: Racial Discrimination

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will make an assessment of the implications for his policies on outcomes for prisoners from ethnic minority backgrounds of the report by His Majesty's Inspectorate of Prisons for England and Wales entitled The experiences of adult black male prisoners and black prison staff, published on 13 December 2022.

Damian Hinds: HMPPS take the findings of reports from His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Prisons very seriously. We recognise that improving outcomes for Black prisoners and staff will require a long-term commitment from the entire organisation. A full response, which sets out the detailed actions we will take to address the findings of the HMI Prisons Inspectorate thematic inspection on the Experience of Adult Male Prisoners and Black Staff was published 22 March and can be found via the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/thematic-review-of-the-experience-of-adult-male-prisoners-and-black-staff.

Prison Officers: Cameras

Julian Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much funding his Department has allocated to providing improved camera equipment for prison officers.

Damian Hinds: The total investment over the course of the four-year Body Worn Video Camera contract will be £8.138m. This figure includes £3.1m Capital Departmental Expenditure that was provided as part of the 2021 Spending Review settlement. The total amount includes both the cost of the equipment and necessary implementation costs, as well as supporting services throughout the contract, such as cloud hosting, software licences, warranty and maintenance.

Community Orders

Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many court applications his Department made to extend supervision due to unfulfilled community sentence unpaid work in (a) 2010 and (b) 2011.

Damian Hinds: We do not hold the data for the years 2010 and 2011 when Unpaid Work was delivered by Probation Trusts.

Prisons: Food

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the contract between his Department and BFS Group Ltd for the supply of food to prisons in England and Wales, what proportion of eggs used by BFS Group in the service of that contract over the course of financial year 2022-23 were (a) free range eggs, (b) barn eggs and (c) colony-laid eggs.

Damian Hinds: The HMPPS Food supply contract supplied eggs in the following volumes for 2022-2023.2022-23VOLUME% of VolumeTOTAL EGGS 9,109,080.00  FREE RANGE 432,360.00 4.55%COLONY 8,676,720.00 95.25% During this time, some free-range eggs may have been housed in barns due to the Avian Influenza regulation requirements but not purchased as Barn eggs.

Prisons: Food

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the contract between his Department and BFS Group Ltd for the supply of food to prisons in England and Wales, what proportion of raw poultry used by BFS Group in the service of that contract over the course of financial year 2022-23 was sourced from within the UK.

Damian Hinds: The HMPPS food contract purchased 1,228,106.40 kg of Raw poultry in 2022-23 with 99.40% being sourced from UK suppliers. VOLUME KG% of VolumeTOTAL1,228,106.40 UK1,220,693.7799.40%EU7,412.630.60%

Prisoner Escorts

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many delays to court proceedings in 2022 resulted from prisoners who were the responsibility of (a) Serco Ltd and (b) GEOAmey Ltd not being delivered to the required courtroom at the required time.

Damian Hinds: For the purposes of the Prisoner and Escort Custody Services contract, a late arrival at court occurs if, through the actions or inactions of the contractor, a prisoner is not available in the courtroom at the required time, and court proceedings are consequently delayed.The table below shows the number of prisoners escorted to court by both suppliers and their overall performance against the Contract Delivery Indicator. GEO AmeyOverall Performance (%)SercoOverall Performance (%)Jan-221058199.83936099.53Feb-221038999.83918299.51Mar-221138799.931042599.66Apr-221014299.90904999.60May-221126599.841016199.46Jun-221060499.88952499.40Jul-221025199.90930799.48Aug-221066399.91984499.71Sep-221041999.89972099.67Oct-221202599.791136599.58Nov-221308899.631199199.46Dec-221151099.57938499.50

Prisons: Education

Mary Kelly Foy: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the oral contribution of the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State of 23 March 2023, Official Report, column 1850, if he will provide a breakdown of financial expenditure within (a) the core programme and (b) special development strategies of the prison education budget.

Damian Hinds: The prison education budget is broken down as follows: (a) the core programme is £115.7 million, and (b) special development strategies is Dynamic Purchasing System (niche and short-term initiatives): £10.4 million, Information, Advice and Guidance: £7.6 Million, Library (non-Prison Education Framework): £5.8 million, Grants (Open University/ Prisoners Education Trust): £1.2 million, OFSTED: £1.4 million, Virtual Campus: £1.4 million.

Department for Energy Security and Net Zero

Alternative Fuel Payments

Sarah Olney: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, how many households have applied to receive Energy Bills Support Scheme Alternative Funding as of 4 May 2023; and what proportion of those applications have been processed.

Amanda Solloway: Figures on the number of households who have applied for the Energy Bills Support Scheme Alternative Funding will be published on GOV.UK on 11 May. This will include the number of applications which have been approved for payment or paid.

Energy: Conservation

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, when he plans to publish new Minimim Energy Efficency Standards for the private rental sector.

Graham Stuart: The Government consultation on improving the energy performance of privately rented homes closed on 8th January 2021. The Government is refining the policy design to ensure the costs and circumstances relating to energy efficiency improvements are fair and proportionate for landlords and tenants. The Government will publish a summary of responses by the end of this year.

Boiler Upgrade Scheme

Derek Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, for what reason households with (a) fossil fuel central heating and (b) hot water heating from renewable sources must replace both to receive a grant under the Boiler Upgrade Scheme; and whether his Department has made an assessment of the environmental impact of that policy.

Graham Stuart: The Boiler Upgrade Scheme provides grants to encourage property owners to replace fossil fuel heating with more efficient, low carbon systems. An eligible technology must fully replace any existing fossil fuel system and be capable of meeting the full space heating and hot water requirement for the property. In some circumstances, the scheme allows for parts of the original heating system to be retained including for example, solar thermal collectors.

Smart Export Guarantee

Ian Mearns: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what assessment he has made of the impact of the Smart Export Guarantee on private investment in renewable technology; and whether he plans to link the SEG tariffs to the prices suppliers charge customers for energy.

Graham Stuart: The Smart Export Guarantee (SEG) annual report, published by Ofgem in October 2022, highlighted a significant increase in the number of installations registering for a SEG tariff (34,020 installations compared to 4,593 from Year 1). The SEG is a cost-reflective and market led mechanism. Suppliers determine the value of the exported electricity and take account of the associated administrative costs when setting their tariffs.

Department for Work and Pensions

Social Security Benefits: Telephone Services

Beth Winter: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many calls to the (a) Universal Credit helpline and (b) Disability Service Centre for queries on (i) Personal Independence Payments, (ii) the Disability Living Allowance and (iii) the Attendance Allowance lasted (A) up to 60 minutes, (B) between 60-120 minutes and (C) more than 120 minutes, in the latest period for which data is available.

Tom Pursglove: Please find data below which shows how many calls were made to the (a) Universal Credit helpline and (b) Disability Service Centre for queries on (i) Personal Independence Payments, (ii) the Disability Living Allowance and (iii) the Attendance Allowance:  YearMonthBusiness GroupProduct LineCalls Offered2022-2023MarPensionsAttendance Allowance126,1612022-2023MarDisabilityDisability Living Allowance156,4732022-2023MarPensionsDisability Living Allowance - 65+17,8982022-2023MarDisabilityPersonal Independence Payment684,3062022-2023MarUniversal CreditUniversal Credit1,345,0242023-2024AprPensionsAttendance Allowance113,0572023-2024AprDisabilityDisability Living Allowance129,6472023-2024AprPensionsDisability Living Allowance - 65+19,6932023-2024AprDisabilityPersonal Independence Payment530,1172023-2024AprUniversal CreditUniversal Credit1,213,815   Totals 4,336,191 We are unable to report number of calls by duration time bands as requested (up to 60 minutes, between 60-120 minutes and more than 120 minutes).Please note this information is derived from the department’s management information designed solely for the purpose of helping the department to manage its business. As such, it has not been subjected to the rigorous quality assurance checks applied to our published official statistics. As DWP holds the information internally, we have released it. However, it is possible information held by DWP may change due to operational reasons and we recommend that caution be applied when using it.

Social Security Benefits: Fraud

Chris Stephens: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many staff in his Department investigate benefit fraud; what recent estimate he has made of the cost of that fraud to the public purse; and if he will make a statement.

Tom Pursglove: As of the end of April 2023, DWP has 1,111 full time equivalent (FTE) employees involved in investigating benefit fraud. This number does not include our compliance staff, who carry out robust and challenging interviews to ensure benefit claimants receive their correct entitlement. For the financial year 2022/23, DWP estimated that the monetary value of benefit overpayments due to fraud stood at £6.4bn. Fraud and error in the benefit system Financial Year Ending (FYE) 2023 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Social Security Benefits: Fraud

Kate Osamor: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how her Department defines benefit fraud.

Tom Pursglove: The definition of fraud and error is set out in our publication on the Monetary Value of Fraud and Error in the benefits system. It defines benefit fraud as cases where the following three conditions apply: the conditions for receipt of benefit, or the rate of benefit in payment, are not being met;the claimant can reasonably be expected to be aware of the effect on entitlement;benefit stops or reduces as a result of the review. The ‘background information’ section of our National Statistics publication provides further information. Fraud and error in the benefit system: financial year 2021 to 2022 estimates - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Social Security Benefits: Fraud

Kate Osamor: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether any claimants who have had their claim suspended by the Risk Review Team have subsequently been convicted of fraud in the last six months.

Kate Osamor: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many customer cases have been reinstated following suspension by the Risk Review Team in the last six months.

Kate Osamor: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many benefit claims are suspended by the Risk Review Team.

Tom Pursglove: Information on the number of claimants convicted of fraud after having their claim suspended by the Department’s Risk Review Team is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost. Since the beginning of December 2022, the Risk Review Team have reinstated 627 cases that were previously suspended. The Risk Review Team currently have 108,362 cases suspended.

Department for Work and Pensions: Sign Language

Sarah Owen: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what progress his department has made with implementing the British Sign Language Act 2022.

Tom Pursglove: The British Sign Language Act 2022 gained Royal Assent in April 2022 and does three things:It recognises British Sign Language as a language of Great Britain in its own right;It places a duty on the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions to report on the promotion and facilitation of British Sign Language by ministerial departments; andIt places a duty on the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions to issue guidance to ministerial departments on the general promotion and facilitation of British Sign Language across their public communications - such as public announcements, consultations, plans, strategy, social media and press conferences. On Tuesday 9 May, the members of the British Sign Language (BSL) Advisory Board met for the first time. Establishing the Board is a significant step in the implementation of the Act. The Board’s role is to advise the Government on key issues impacting the Deaf community. The Board’s remit includes: advising on the use of BSL in public communications and policy delivery, including input to the guidance outlined in part 3 of the Act; and advising on how to tackle key issues facing Deaf people, such as how to increase the numbers of BSL interpreters. Work continues across Government to ensure that the departments named in the schedule to the Act are aware of their reporting duty. The first reporting period runs from 28 June 2022 to 30 April 2023 and departments will report on their use of BSL in public communications after the end of the reporting period. The second meeting of senior officials representing the departments due to report on their use of BSL will take place in May.

Employment: Arthritis

Neil Coyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of placing work advisors in community musculoskeletal services on employment levels of people with arthritis.

Tom Pursglove: No such assessment has been made.

Employment: Musculoskeletal Disorders

Neil Coyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to help support people with musculoskeletal issues into work.

Tom Pursglove: The Government is taking several steps to help support people with musculoskeletal (MSK) issues into work. In the spring Budget the Government set out a package of measures to provide an extra £406 million over the next five years to tackle the leading health-related causes keeping people out of work, which includes investment targeted at services for MSK conditions. As part of this, the Government will pilot integrating vocational advice within MSK services to ensure people can access holistic support locally, scale up MSK Hubs in the community and ensure digital resources, such as apps for management of MSK conditions, are readily available, so that more people can easily and quickly access the support that is right for them. We also have a new online service, which is currently in live national testing, offering tailored guidance to help employers better support disabled people and those with health conditions in the workplace: Support with Employee Health and Disability service.In October 2022, we published the Musculoskeletal (MSK) Health Toolkit for employers and further education institutions, which encourages employers to support adolescents and young adults with MSK conditions. The Musculoskeletal health toolkit for employers was developed in partnership with Business in the Community and provides practical information for employers of all sizes to address MSK conditions in the workplace for the working age population.

Access to Work Programme

Neil Coyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to help reduce waiting times for access to work assessments.

Tom Pursglove: Access to Work has received a significant increase in applications over the last year and have recruited new staff to meet the increased demand and reduce the time it takes to make decisions. Customers making new applications where they are starting work within the next 4 weeks, or have a grant coming to an end that requires renewal, are prioritised to ensure customers are able to enter and remain in the labour market. We are also streamlining and transforming the Access to Work service through increased digitalisation, that will make the service more efficient, will make the application process easier, and improve the time taken from application through to decision.

Social Security Benefits

Ms Karen Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many claimants who received the (a) Support Group element of Employment and Support Allowance and (b) Limited Capability for Work-Related Activity element of Universal Credit but not PIP received more than the Benefit Cap levels in relevant benefits In the latest month for which data is available.

Tom Pursglove: The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.

Work Capability Assessment

Ms Karen Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Health and Disability White Paper, CP 807, published on 15 March 2023, whether he intends to introduce a substantial risk test comparable to the test within the Work Capability Assessment regarding a claimant’s ability to undertake work or work-related activity, once the Work Capability Assessment has been replaced.

Tom Pursglove: As part of the new approach to support, work coaches will have personalised conversations with claimants to determine their individual circumstances and how their health condition impacts them. This will mean that people will have their requirements tailored to their needs, which can include having no work-related requirements at all while the claimant seeks mental health support.Work coaches will provide appropriate support to claimants with health conditions and ensure that operational processes such as the six-point plan are followed to support the claimant.

Work Capability Assessment

Ms Karen Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Health and Disability White Paper, CP 807, published on 15 March 2023, whether he plans to introduce a Mandatory Reconsideration and appeal route against decisions made about a claimant’s ability to undertake work or work-related activity once the Work Capability Assessment has been replaced.

Tom Pursglove: Our new approach will provide more personalised levels of conditionality and employment support, with the aim of helping people to reach their potential and live a more independent life. This more tailored approach will allow work coaches to build a relationship with an individual and determine what, if any, work-related activities an individual can participate in. These activities could start from voluntary and dial up to mandatory where appropriate, with requirements added at a pace that is appropriate for the individual. We will take time to carefully consider how best to implement these changes and take a test and learn approach with the new system before introducing it, to ensure it provides the taxpayer with value for money and is accessible and effective in delivering for our service users.We will continue to listen to, and to work closely with, disabled people, people with health conditions and many other partners, on how to best deliver these reforms.

Universal Credit

Ms Karen Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Health and Disability White Paper, CP 807, published on 15 March 2023, whether a benefit sanction that reduced Universal Credit Standard Allowance to zero would remove a claimant's entitlement to the Health Element of Universal Credit.

Ms Karen Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Health and Disability White Paper, CP 807, published on 15 March 2023, whether receipt of a nil award of Universal Credit due to being paid twice in a month would remove entitlement to the Health Element of Universal Credit.

Tom Pursglove: We are committed to reforming the system to better support people with health conditions overcome the barriers that prevent them from working. We are also committed to making work pay, and incentivising people to seek and stay in work. The new health element will be awarded to people who are receiving the UC Standard Allowance and any PIP element. Entitlement to the new UC health element will only end when the functional impact of a person’s health condition improves and they are no longer eligible for PIP, or as people earn more money and their UC is tapered away, which ensures that they are financially better off in work. As we develop our reform proposals, we will consider how some interactions with the UC system will be reflected in the reformed system. This will be carefully worked through and reported on before we introduce legislation in the next parliament.

Personal Independence Payment: Multiple Sclerosis

Fleur Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment the Government has made of the effectiveness of (a) the 20-metre rule, (b) informal observations and (c) the 50 per cent rule for accurately assessing the impact of Multiple sclerosis during Personal Independence Payment assessments.

Tom Pursglove: As referenced in my responses on 21 April 2023, UIN181230, and 24 April 2023, UIN181064: We believe the current assessment criteria, including the 20-metre rule, are the best way of identifying people whose physical mobility is most limited and there are no immediate plans to make changes.Informal observations are useful in assessing functional capability and there are no current plans to stop this.The department closely monitors all aspects of the assessment process, including how we assess fluctuating health conditions like multiple sclerosis, however there are no current plans to remove the 50 per cent rule.

Social Security Benefits

Kate Osamor: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to reduce the number of people who do not claim benefits to which they are entitled.

Guy Opperman: I refer the Hon. Member to the answer given on 9 May to PQ 183412.

Universal Credit

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the proposals by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation and Trussell Trust on an essentials guarantee when setting Universal Credit.

Guy Opperman: No formal assessment has been made.

State Retirement Pensions: Women

Lisa Nandy: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when she expects the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman to publish its final report and recommendations on the communication of changes to the Women’s State Pension age by her Department.

Laura Trott: The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman is responsible for setting the timeline for his investigation.

State Retirement Pensions: Women

Lisa Nandy: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether it remains her Department's policy (a) that the matter of changes to women's state pension age is resolved and (b) to continue to engage with the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman's investigation into the communication of those changes.

Laura Trott: It would not be appropriate to comment on the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman investigation while it is ongoing. Section 7(2) of the Parliamentary Commissioner Act 1967 states that Ombudsman investigations “shall be conducted in private”. This is a multi-staged process, and the Ombudsman has not given his final findings on the investigation. We are cooperating with the Ombudsman’s investigation.

Ageing

Mr Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department plans to develop an ageing population strategy.

Laura Trott: We have no current plans to develop an ageing population strategy.

Universal Credit: Deductions

Chris Stephens: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of Universal Credit claims were subject to deductions in the most recent month for which data is available, broken down by parliamentary constituency; how much was the (a) total and (b) average sum of deductions in each constituency; and what proportion of those sums was deducted to repay advance payments.

Guy Opperman: Since April 2021, we have reduced the normal maximum rate of deductions in Universal Credit from 40% to 25% of a claimant’s Standard Allowance. These positive measures were put in place to support claimants to manage financial difficulties. Advances are a claimant’s benefit entitlement paid early, allowing claimants to access 100% of their estimated Universal Credit payment upfront. They ensure nobody has to wait for a payment in Universal Credit, and those who need it are able to receive financial support as soon as possible. Claimants can receive up to 100% of their estimated Universal Credit award if required, resulting in 25 payments over a 24-month period. This is not a debt. The requested analysis of Universal Credit claims with a deduction in November 2022 by parliamentary constituency in Great Britain (GB) is provided in the separate spreadsheet.Attachment  (xlsx, 365.5KB)

Universal Credit

Patricia Gibson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of reviewing payment period arrangements for Universal Credit to account for people who are not paid monthly.

Guy Opperman: No such assessment has been made. There are no planned changes to Universal Credit assessment periods or payment schedules. Universal Credit has been designed with monthly assessment periods to reflect the world of work, where the majority of all employees receive wages monthly. Guidance is available to claimants, staff and representatives to raise awareness of different earnings patterns and their impact on Universal Credit. The Department has been working closely with HMRC since Universal Credit went live in 2013 to support and inform employers on the importance of timely reporting via the Real Time Information (RTI) system to ensure payments of Universal Credit are accurate. This includes the updating of HMRC guidance to reiterate that where a payment falls on a non-banking day the payment should be shown as having been made on the regular payday. Where a claimant wishes to dispute the earnings information, we have received from their employer, they can submit evidence to us, and we will look into the case to see if a change needs to be made.

Department for Transport

Active Travel: Finance

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to protect the active travel 4 budget.

Jesse Norman: Active Travel England will be shortly announcing the recipients of the £200 million of ATF4 funding. Investing in active travel is a transformative way to improve health and air quality, cut carbon emissions and support local economic growth. The £200m is part of over £3 billion which the Government is investing into active travel up to 2025.

Active Travel: Finance

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent discussions his Department has had with stakeholders on the level of funding for active travel.

Jesse Norman: Officials from the Department meet regularly with active travel stakeholders to discuss questions of funding, policy and programme delivery. This includes regular meetings of the Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy Stakeholder Advisory Group, which last met on 27 April.

Active Travel

Fleur Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent steps the Government has taken to increase the use of active travel in (a) cities (b) towns and (c) villages.

Fleur Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent steps the Government has taken to (a) improve the quality of and (b) increase the number of cycle routes.

Jesse Norman: The Government is investing more than £3 billion into active travel up to 2025 from a wide range of transport and local growth funding streams. The funding is supporting new and upgraded cycle routes and other active travel infrastructure across England. On 6 February, the Government announced a new £200 million fund to improve walking and cycling routes. Successful schemes for this funding will be announced shortly.Active Travel England is working closely with local authorities to ensure that walking, wheeling and cycling schemes comply with national design guidelines, including with regards to safety and accessibility, which is a condition of Government funding for these active travel schemes.

Active Travel: Finance

Mary Glindon: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the Written Ministerial Statement of 9 March 2023 entitled Transport Update, HCWS625, whether he plans to amend the objectives in the second Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy, published on 6 July 2022 in the level of (a) ringfenced and (b) non-ringfenced funding announced for active travel for the remaining spending period.

Jesse Norman: The Department has no plans to amend these objectives.

Railways: Tickets

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to his Ticketing and Settlement Agreement ticket office guidance, which body would act as an adjudicator for that process involving train operators managed by the devolved transport authorities (a) ScotRail, (b) Transport for Wales Rail Services, (c) TfL Rail and London Overground and (d) Merseyrail.

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to his Ticketing and Settlement Agreement ticket office guidance, how will the criteria listed under the major change process be used to determine whether a train company can proceed with proposals for ticket office closures.

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will require Train Operating Companies to undertake and publish an Equality Impact Assessment for areas where they propose to close ticket offices.

Huw Merriman: To propose any changes to the opening hours, or the closure of ticket offices, train operating companies (TOCs) must follow the process set out in the Ticketing and Settlement Agreement (TSA). Under the TSA when proposing major changes to ticket office opening hours (including closures), operators are required to take into account the adequacy of the proposed alternatives in relation to the needs of passengers who are disabled; and to include this in the notice of the proposal sent to other operators and passenger groups. We would also expect operators to consider other equality related needs and make this clear in their consultation. The Secretary of State is only involved in the TSA process if an objection is made by a passenger group such as Transport Focus during the consultation which cannot be resolved. When a ticket office is under the remit of a devolved administration, the Secretary of State would normally appoint the relevant devolved authority to make any required decision on his behalf.If called upon to make a determination on a specific ticket office proposal, the Secretary of State will follow the TSA process, the Ticket Office Guidance and comply with his own Public Sector Equality Duty by taking equality implications into account.

Railways: Tickets

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what proportion of rail tickets were sold at (a) ticket offices, (b) via ticket vending machines, (c) online, (d) via apps and (e) via smartcards in the last 12 months for each train operating company.

Huw Merriman: Ticket office usage has declined over the last decade, accounting for 34 per cent of transactions in 2012/13, down to 12 per cent in 2021/22 (the last year for which analysis has been completed). The share of transactions via ticket vending machines in 2021/22 was 15 per cent whilst online transactions (including both train operators (train operating companies (TOCs)) sales and sales by third-party retailers) was 45 per cent. The remaining 28 per cent of transactions were made via other channels. Specific channel shares by TOCs cannot be shared publicly due to commercial confidentiality.

Railways: Tickets

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what are the full range of fares and rail products available to purchase at ticket offices (a) nationally and (b) at each Train Operating Company.

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what is the range of fares and rail products that will be available from stations if all ticket offices were to close (a) nationally and (b) at each Train Operating Company.

Huw Merriman: The majority of rail fares are available for purchase at ticket offices.To propose any changes to the opening hours, or the closure of ticket offices, train operating companies (TOCs) must follow the process set out in the Ticketing and Settlement Agreement (TSA). This sets out how TOCs must ensure that members of the public will continue to enjoy widespread and easy access to the purchase of rail products.

Shipping: Conditions of Employment

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the potential impact on the number of seafarers working in the UK of the requirement for seafarers to have either ENG1 or ML5 medical certificates in order to continue working at sea after November 2023; what recent discussions he has had with organisations representing seafarers on the requirement for seafarers to have either ENG1 or ML5 medical certificates; what steps he is taking to support seafarers who will be required to obtain either ENG1 or ML5 medical certificates; and what steps he is taking to raise awareness among seafarers.

Mr Richard Holden: The main intended outcome, given that the risk level of commercial fishing in the UK is estimated to be 100 times greater than the general workforce, is to ensure that those in the industry are not likely, because of a medical condition, to put themselves in danger, or put others in danger in coming to rescue them.The requirement for a medical certificate brings fishing into line with all other maritime sectors, and indeed other transport sectors, and all seafarers other than fishers have been required to hold a medical certificate for many years. The Department for Transport is particularly mindful of those already working in the sector, and this is why we have put Grandfather Rights in place. No-one in the industry has yet been refused a ML5 medical fitness certificate by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency’s (MCA) medical assessors. The MCA has extensively engaged with industry on this over many years, including through a public consultation. The MCA has written to those in the sector with information and published guidance on www.gov.uk, including a Q&A addressing the most common concerns. The MCA has also been working with the Fishermen’s Mission to help deliver the message on quaysides, as well as through MCA surveyors. Any fisher concerned or uncertain about how to obtain a medical certificate can contact the Maritime and Coastguard Agency’s Medical Administration Team who can advise on the process to follow.

Driving Tests: Waiting Lists

Fleur Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the current average waiting time is in England to take a driving test from the date of booking the test; and how many people are currently waiting to take a test.

Mr Richard Holden: As of 8 May 2023, there were 544,657 car practical driving tests booked and 46,316 driving tests available within the next 24-weeks.

Railways: Tooting

Dr Rosena Allin-Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of improving service levels at Tooting rail station.

Huw Merriman: My Department and train operating companies monitor demand closely to deliver a timetable which matches passenger needs and provides the right level and consistency of service. There are no plans to increase service levels at Tooting station in the near future, although service provision remains under regular review.

Railways: Standards

Dr Rosena Allin-Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what data his Department holds on the proportion of trains which did not arrive on time between (a) 07:30 and 09:30 and (b) 17:00 and 19:00 at (i) Balham, (ii) Earlsfield, (iii) Tooting and (iv) Wandsworth Common rail station in the last 12 months.

Huw Merriman: My Department does not hold data to that level of detail. However, I can confirm the proportion of trains which arrived On Time (defined as less than one minute late against the public timetable) at those stations during the 2022-23 rail year was 83.9% at Balham, 71.5% at Earlsfield, 79.6% at Tooting and 80.6% at Wandsworth Common. These compare to a National On Time average of 67.8% across all Operators for the same time period

Rolling Stock: Disability

Marsha De Cordova: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether train operating companies are required to inform passengers in advance if a train is in service without a functioning accessible toilet.

Huw Merriman: Each train operating company is required to have an Accessible Travel Policy (ATP) in place as a condition of their operating licence. The ATP should set out how operators provide information to help passengers plan their journey including temporary reductions in accessibility (e.g. toilet facilities etc.).

Rolling Stock: Disability

Marsha De Cordova: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department permits train operating companies to take rolling stock into service without a functional accessible toilet.

Marsha De Cordova: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the penalties are for train companies which putting rolling stock into service without a functioning accessible toilet.

Huw Merriman: Where a train is fitted with an accessible toilet, the Persons with Reduced Mobility - National Technical Specification Notice (PRM-NTSN) allows a train operator to operate a train in service without a functional accessible toilet, provided it is repaired or replaced within 6 working days of the occurrence being reported. The Office for Rail and Road are responsible for monitoring and enforcing the requirements set out in the PRM-NTSN.

Motor Vehicles: Safety

Claire Hanna: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to EU regulation 2019/2144 on vehicle safety systems, whether the UK has adopted that regulation; and under what circumstances truck and vehicle manufacturers have to comply with that legislation.

Mr Richard Holden: EU regulation 2019/2144 was not retained in UK law and does not form part of the GB type approval scheme. Vehicles manufacturers will need to comply with the regulation if they intend to sell their products in Northern Ireland or into the EU.Vehicle standards are kept under review and a decision will be taken in due course as to whether to introduce any of the relevant technologies in Great Britain as part of our wider programme to modernise vehicle standards

Shipping: Conditions of Employment

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the requirement for seafarers to have either ENG1 or ML5 medical certificates in order to continue working at sea after November 2023, what assessment he has made of whether it is appropriate to include questions relating to BMI in the application process seafarers must undertake in order to obtain a ML5 medical certificate.

Mr Richard Holden: The use of body mass index (BMI) is included in the International Labour Organization/International Maritime Organization’s Guidelines of the medical examinations of seafarers. Body mass index is a useful indicator of when additional assessment is needed. It does not form the sole basis for decisions on capability. There is no upper limit on BMI value for the assessor to issue a medical certificate and any restrictions or unfit decisions are usually based on other medical conditions and issues with physical capability rather than the BMI number itself.

Shipping: Conditions of Employment

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the requirement for seafarers to have either ENG1 or ML5 medical certificates in order to continue working at sea after November 2023, what the cost implications will be for seafarers who are denied an ML5 medical certificate and appeal the decision.

Mr Richard Holden: There is no cost to the seafarer to exercise their right to appeal against failure or restriction for an ENG1 certificate other than the cost of travel to the appointment with the referee if the review takes place face to face. There is no cost to the seafarer for referral for an ML5 certificate. The costs of appeal or referral are borne by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency.

Treasury

Minimum Wage

Chris Stephens: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many full-time equivalent staff work in the HMRC National Minimum Wage team; and how many posts in that team were unfilled on 1 May 2023.

Victoria Atkins: HMRC enforces the National Minimum Wage (NMW) and National Living Wage (NLW) in line with the law and policy set out by the Department for Business and Trade (DBT). The Government is determined that everyone who is entitled to the NMW receives it. HMRC’s NMW compliance work is funded by DBT. The annual funding for minimum wage enforcement has doubled since 2015 (Table 1, link below) and this additional investment has enabled a significant expansion of resources dedicated to enforcing the minimum wage.https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1149618/supplementary_data_for_enforcement_and_compliance_report.xlsx Data on the number of full-time equivalent staff (FTE) working in HMRC’s NMW team will change during the course of the year, and the final FTE position will be published as part of the Government Evidence on Enforcement and Compliance in 2024/2025.

Treasury: Advertising

Stewart Hosie: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much his Department has spent on radio adverts in each of the the last five years broken down by radio station.

Gareth Davies: HM Treasury has not incurred expenditure on radio adverts in the last five years. HM Treasury’s expenditure on advertising, marketing and communications is published in the Department’s transparency reporting returns- HM Treasury exceptions to cross government moratoria on spending - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).

Taxation: Disclosure of Information

Alicia Kearns: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what guidance his Department has on situations where HMRC discovers a secrecy provision has been violated for one of the UK's tax information exchange agreements; and whether HMRC keeps a record of such violations.

Alicia Kearns: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many applications HMRC has received from people asking to redact their information from the UK’s tax information exchange agreements in the last 10 years.

Alicia Kearns: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department has made an estimate of the approval rate for (a) individuals and (b) companies that apply to HMRC to have their information redacted from the UK's tax information exchange agreements on human rights grounds.

Victoria Atkins: HMRC takes secrecy provisions of tax information exchange agreements very seriously and has procedures for dealing with any case of actual or suspected violation. Such incidents are very rare. Appropriate action will depend on the facts and circumstances of the case and can include suspension of the relevant tax information exchange agreement.In the last ten years HMRC has received no applications from individuals or companies asking to redact information on human rights grounds.

Tax Evasion

Chris Stephens: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many full-time equivalent staff are employed to investigate tax evasion in HMRC's Wealthy Team unit; and if he will make a statement.

Victoria Atkins: The Government is committed to tackling tax avoidance, evasion, and all other forms of tax non-compliance. HMRC has considerable resources to tackle non-compliance in the tax system, including tax evasion. Within HMRC’s Customer Compliance Group (CCG), HMRC have a dedicated Wealthy unit with responsibility for tax compliance in this customer segment. As part of their role, they are key to delivering HMRC’s compliance response to evasion. For data on the full time equivalent (FTE) employees working in HMRC's Wealthy Teams, I refer the hon member to my answer of 30 January 2023 to UIN 131454.

Prisons: Education

Mary Kelly Foy: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the oral contribution of the Minister for Prisons of 28 March 2023, Official Report, column 811 on Prison Education, whether the Fair Deal pensions policy will apply to staff working for education providers that are classified as public sector bodies.

John Glen: The New Fair Deal policy introduced in 2013 does not apply to Further Education providers. Following the recent ONS reclassification of FE colleges as public sector bodies, this policy is under review.

Money Laundering: Property Ownership

Fleur Anderson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent steps the Government has taken to reduce the risk of money laundering through UK property ownership.

Andrew Griffith: The government recognises the money laundering risk associated with UK property, and since 2017 has required Estate Agents and legal professionals involved in the buying and selling of property to register for supervision under money laundering regulations. Last year saw the UK take further significant action by introducing the Register of Overseas Entities, which requires overseas companies who own UK property to reveal their real identities. Through the second Economic Crime Plan, the government has committed to taking further coordinated steps using our enhanced regulatory, supervisory and enforcement toolkit, to identify criminals more quickly and effectively and do more to hold them to account.

Electronic Funds Transfer: Business

Derek Thomas: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department is taking to ensure competition in providing merchant services to businesses in the (a) leisure sector and (b) other high-risk sectors.

Gareth Davies: The government’s vision for the payments sector includes enabling effective competition between payments providers – including merchant services – in the interests of consumers and businesses across the UK. The Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) is responsible for promoting effective competition in the payments sector, including in relation to merchant services. Throughout 2021, following concerns that merchant acquiring services were not delivering good outcomes for businesses, and ultimately consumers, the PSR undertook a Card Acquiring Market Review. In October 2022, the PSR published its final proposed remedies to enable greater competition, transparency, and choice for merchants dependent on the card-acquiring market. These include requirements for acquirers to provide clear pricing information to merchants; to notify merchants when their contract is about to expire; and imposes a maximum permissible contract for ‘Point-of-Sale’ device to 18 months.

Vegetable Oils: Excise Duties

Patricia Gibson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of reducing the fuel duty rate of Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil for heating to match that of kerosene heating oil.

Gareth Davies: Hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO) is a form of renewable diesel and therefore benefits from the rebated duty rate of 10.18 pence per litre (ppl) when used for domestic heating. Kerosene is fully rebated. In contrast, the fuel duty rate for road diesel and petrol is 52.95 ppl. Concerning the Government’s position on HVO’s potential as a heating fuel, the Government's biomass policy statement of November 2021 set out that deployment of biofuels, such as HVO for off-gas-grid heating, will be limited by constraints on the global availability of sustainable biomass feedstocks, and potential alternative uses to decarbonise other sectors of the economy. Low temperature heat pumps offer a scalable way of decarbonising heating. However, the Government recognises that biofuels such as bioLPG and HVO may play a role in future off-gas-grid decarbonisation, particularly for properties that are not suitable for a heat pump. The forthcoming Biomass Strategy will review the amount of sustainable biomass available to the UK, including liquid biofuels such as HVO, and how this could be best used across the economy to achieve our net zero target. As with all taxes, the Government keeps the tax treatment of HVO under review.

Shipping: Fuels

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what is the average time it takes for HMRC to process applications from seafarers for relief from fuel duty for marine voyages.

Gareth Davies: HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) aims to process the majority of Marine Voyages Relief claims within 30 days. However, it may take longer if a claim is selected for additional security checks.

Department for Business and Trade

National Living Wage

Ian Mearns: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether her Department plans to bring forward legislative proposals to ensure that workers on the National Living Wage receive any uplift in pay as soon as it comes into effect rather than after a pay reference period has ended.

Kevin Hollinrake: National Minimum Wage (NMW) regulations are clear that all workers must be paid at least the NMW for the hours worked in each pay reference period (PRP). When the NMW rates change, the increase applies to the first PRP starting on or after the date of any change. The Government recognises that low paid workers want to receive the pay rise that they are entitled to as soon as possible after the rates increased on 1 April.

Northern Ireland Office

Churches: Northern Ireland

Sir Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, how much funding has been provided by the Department of Communities in Northern Ireland to Christian places of worship excluding cathedrals in each of the last five financial years.

Mr Steve Baker: Support for the voluntary and community sector is a devolved matter in Northern Ireland. The Northern Ireland Department for Communities has the responsibility for matters relating to the provision of funding to Christian places of worship in Northern Ireland. As the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland set out in his Written Ministerial Statement to Parliament on 27 April, Northern Ireland Office officials and the Secretary of State have worked intensively with the Northern Ireland departments to set a budget for Northern Ireland for the 2023-24 financial year. The right people to make these decisions are locally elected politicians in a fully functioning Northern Ireland Executive and Northern Ireland Assembly. In the absence of these, it will be for the relevant Northern Ireland department, in this case, the Department for Communities, to manage its funding.

Scotland Office

Scotland Act 2016

Ian Murray: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, when his Department plans to publish the Seventh Annual Report on the implementation of the Scotland Act 2016.

Mr Alister Jack: Officials in my Department have been working closely with their colleagues across the UK Government and Scottish Government to prepare the Seventh Annual Report on the Implementation of the Scotland Act 2016. I expect this report to be published by the end of May. I will write to you with a copy of the report when it is published.

Churches: Scotland

Sir Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, how much funding has been provided by Historic Environment Scotland to Christian places of worship excluding cathedrals in each of the last five financial years.

Mr Alister Jack: This is an area of devolved competence and therefore not for the UK Government to comment on. Historic Environment Scotland is a Scottish Government non-departmental public body with a charitable status, governed by a Board of Trustees appointed by Scottish Ministers.